Saima Wazed took office as its South-East Asia regional director in early 2024 for a five-year term. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Saima Wazed, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) South-East Asia Region head and daughter of ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned on Wednesday (September 10, 2026) following fraud investigations by the U.N. agency and Bangladeshi authorities, according to sources.
The WHO placed Ms. Wazed, who took office in early 2024 for a five-year term, on unpaid administrative leave late last year. She was first sent on leave in July 2025, in a move that followed Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission filing cases for fraud, forgery, and misuse of power against.
The WHO accused Ms. Wazed of “committing financial fraud in relation to her travel to China” and of misrepresenting her academic credentials, according to a separate letter from her lawyers to the WHO on July 3, 2026. She has denied the allegations.
The WHO also alleged she had illegally acquired a plot of land in Bangladesh, according to her resignation letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
What Saima Wazed said in her reisgnation letter
Ms. Wazed said she acquired the land before she joined the WHO and was entitled to it under a Bangladeshi law that covered the families of the country’s independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, osuted PM Hasina’s father. “I was elected to the position of Regional Director in order to serve the countries in my region, which I had sincerely done,” Ms. Wazed said in her resignation letter to Mr. Tedros sent late on Wednesday (September 10, 2026).
“Since you continue to prevent me from effectively carrying out my duties, I have lost all trust and confidence in your leadership of WHO,” she wrote. “Moreover, after nearly one year without any remuneration following your decision to place me on unpaid leave, my financial situation has become untenable. In these circumstances, I am choosing to step aside.” She declined to comment further.
Saima Wazed | Rise of the daughter
The role of WHO regional head
In the role of South-East Asia regional director, Ms. Wazed was mandated to direct international health work in 11 countries, an area with a population of over two billion people. She is a licensed school psychologist, nationally certified in the U.S.
Ms. Wazed’s appointment as Regional Director had also been under the scanner, with charges of having used her mother’s influence during the campaign, and of providing false information on her academic record during in her candidature for the post, allegedly violating Section 468 of the Bangladesh Penal Code (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and Section 471 (forging a document).
Regional directors are among the world’s most influential health policy officials, with their duties including responses to outbreaks and emergencies and adapting WHO policies to local conditions. They are elected every five years by member states, which include Bangladesh and India in the South-East Asia region.
Two sources told Reuters earlier that the U.N. agency was planning to formally remove Wazed. One of them said the WHO would announce nominations for the role on October 12, vet applications in December and hold elections on January 24. The sources declined to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.
With inputs from Reuters
Published – September 10, 2026 12:08 pm IST
